Clinical Challenge: Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

DeAngelo also pointed out that children are better able to tolerate higher doses of chemotherapy, particularly the chemotherapy used for ALL. \"And there has been this bifurcation in the way adults are treated,\" he added. \"Children have always been treated in pediatric hospitals with pediatric regimens, while adults have largely been treated in the community with adult regimens that have been largely modified from pediatrics, but with a markedly reduced dose and intensity.\"

However, there has been an evolution in the way adults with ALL who are under the age of 40 are being treated, said DeAngelo. This is the result of the increasing recognition that the biology of the disease in these patients is more similar to that seen in children than in older adults, and that these younger adults should do better if treated with pediatric, or pediatric-like, regimens.